Why do police get paid so little?

[Totalimus]

In which country is ~4'000$ per month considered a low salary?

[Totalimus]

The US.  Not kidding, you ar seen as nothing unless you make at least $83,333 a month here.  A low salary is considered that much.  Otherwise, you don't matter.

Oh please, what is the % of whole U.S population which is making at least that much?

[Hlong]

Basically what you're saying is college degree > risking your life every day.

In every job there is risk.....some more than others. I work in heavy industry and I "risk" my life every day.

[Nexxus]

because of people not valuing education and our future. 

To be fair alot of teachers I have experienced didnt give a fuck or wouldnt be able to do shit without their teachers guides as well as in some cases were blatantly wrong about information 

[rjfaber91]

In which country is ~4'000$ per month considered a low salary?

 

I was going to say... I know the exchange ration between Dollars and Euros is a bit different now than it used to be, but I'd instantly sign for a job that would net me that much; even once I finish my college degree I'm nowhere near guaranteed to make €4000.- a month.

[Unhelpful]

In which country is ~4'000$ per month considered a low salary?

$48,000 per year is certainly not a comfortable living. It's pretty low.

[Hlong]

My family is from the line of Police officers

 

My mum and dad are from the police force

So?

[rjfaber91]

$48,000 per year is certainly not a comfortable living. It's pretty low.

 

I don't get it though. How much must a mortgage (or rent) cost in the US for $4000 a month to be anything less than a vast amount of money?

[Unhelpful]

I don't get it though. How much must a mortgage (or rent) cost in the US for $4000 a month to be anything less than a vast amount of money?

In what country is the equivalent of $4,000 USD a month a VAST amount of money?!

 

Are we talking about what you take home? Before or after taxes?

 

Why aim for a little above what you need? Never set something like that to be your goal. It's enough to live off of, but why stop there? Try to make enough to be able to buy what you want without having to save for months/years. There is a difference between livable and comfortable.

 

As for cost of living, it depends on where you live, it differs city-to-city state-to-state. Where I live the cost of living is about $20,000 annually. BEFORE TAXES. That's to survive. Not what you should do and then spend the rest on random stuff. NEVER AIM FOR THE MINIMUM.

 

http://livingwage.mit.edu/ is a neat site/tool.

 

A comfortable living, to me, would be about $80,000 yearly minimum.

 

$4,000 a month isn't poor, but it is lower-end.

[rjfaber91]

In what country is the equivalent of $4,000 USD a month a VAST amount of money?!

 

Are we talking about what you take home? Before or after taxes?

 

Why aim for a little above what you need? Never set something like that to be your goal. It's enough to live off of, but why stop there? Try to make enough to be able to buy what you want without having to save for months/years. There is a difference between livable and comfortable.

 

As for cost of living, it depends on where you live, it differs city-to-city state-to-state. Where I live the cost of living is about $20,000 annually. BEFORE TAXES. That's to survive. Not what you should do and then spend the rest on random stuff. NEVER AIM FOR THE MINIMUM.

 

http://livingwage.mit.edu/ is a neat site/tool.

 

A comfortable living, to me, would be about $80,000 yearly minimum.

 

$4,000 a month isn't poor, but it is lower-end.

 

I was talking before taxes, though that would be another interesting thing to bear in mind, given that if I'd earn €48,000.- a year I'd be paying three times as much income tax as somebody in the US. Not that I mind high taxes (as a student I effectively live off the government, so I wouldn't be able to survive without people paying a fair amount of income tax) , but it's a difference nonetheless.

 

Admittedly €4000.- a month (and I'm mixing Dollars and Euros here, since they're basically 1:1 these days) isn't literally a "vast" amount of money here in the Netherlands, but there is a surprising number of first-world countries were that is the case. The average monthly income here in the Netherlands, before taxes, is €2500.-, but I know that in Greece for example, that's only €800.-; you don't even have to look outside the EU to find a country where €4000.- is wáy above average.

 

I believe the current amount of money that people on benefits in the Netherlands get is €850.- per month, so we'll call that the money you need to survive, although admittedly they don't pay taxes, so a figure that would actually make sense in a comparison would be somewhere near €1300.- instead. An average, non-college-educated, civil servant makes somewhere in the vicinity of €2000.- before taxes, so that's about €700.- a month more than somebody on benefits, but still €2000.- a month short of the apparently non-comfortable income of a police constable in the States, even without correcting for the difference in tax rates...

[Oberon.Smite]

I don't get it though. How much must a mortgage (or rent) cost in the US for $4000 a month to be anything less than a vast amount of money?

If you make 4000 a month, that means you make 48k a year. 48k isn't SHIT in the US. With 48k a year you'll probably be able to, by yourself, rent a decent apartment, but that's it. If you are living with a spouse that makes a similar amount of money, you'll probably be able to afford a 3 bedroom house if you have a steady job and clean record. Basically 4k a month isn't anything because once you subtract rent/mortgage, taxes, groceries, and utilities you are left with almost nothing. It might be hard to understand for you because you live in a different country, but that's just how shit works here. If you want to live comfortably you have to make AT LEAST 75k a year.

[Guest Kloaked]

Well.. It also takes years of school to get into the White House (unless you're a friend of Obama), compared to the high school diploma they usually want to sign up for the military. 

 

When my mom was going to go into the Navy, they were going to give her a full scholarship for college. After college, she'd go into the Navy, serve her time, then leave (or sign again.) After, she'd get medical benefits, dental benefits, some tax deductibles- that doesn't sound like a joke. This was 20 years ago, maybe it's changed now. 

 

So what

 

They're sitting behind desks and doing needless press conferences in the comfort of the white house, and receiving million dollar vacations while we have homeless vets. There's something wrong with that.

[Kobathor]

So what

 

They're sitting behind desks and doing needless press conferences in the comfort of the white house, and receiving million dollar vacations while we have homeless vets. There's something wrong with that.

Uh.. They're sitting behind their desks making the decisions that will make our country's future. They don't all get million dollar vacations, only the higher ups get those (look at Obama, goes on vacation once a month for like a week.)

[GeekJump]

4 pages...I read NONE OF IT but Op's!

 

One of my majors was criminal justice (did it mainly for interest not so much job prospects. I did apply and look around tho) And there are many factors that play into it. Location, Education Level of Person, Exp, Crime levels, etc. Police can start as low as 30K for types of special police all the way up to 50k+. 

 

Another thing people don't take into consideration unless they look into it is overtime pay. Yeah, 45k year base salary but an hour over time here and there and you can bank 10K+ more a year. I have multiple family members in different levels of law enforcement and many end the year making 90k+ due to overtime even tho their actual salary is far from it (including some that have only been doing it for a couple years). 

[watts300]

If you make 4000 a month, that means you make 48k a year. 48k isn't SHIT in the US. 

 

 

....

 

you want to live comfortably you have to make AT LEAST 75k a year.

 

Are you nuts? 

 

Different geographical areas have different costs of living.  You simply can't make a generalized statement to say that $48,000 a year in the entire US isn't enough.  In fact, 48k in a majority of the US is good pay.  Sure, urban settings like New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and even some part of Arizona have extremely high costs of living, but there are exceptions to every rule and that's why averages exist. 

 

48k is a good pay even for the large city I live in.  

 

C'mon. The USA is a large place.  You have to know by now that it's not all the same. 

 

 

I make less than $75k a year, and I live plenty comfortably.. and I'm a single parent.  

[Guest Kloaked]

Uh.. They're sitting behind their desks making the decisions that will make our country's future. They don't all get million dollar vacations, only the higher ups get those (look at Obama, goes on vacation once a month for like a week.)

 

How does that justify what they get paid compared to the people who are actually carrying out the orders?

[Yoinkerman]

Are you nuts?

Different geographical areas have different costs of living. You simply can't make a generalized statement to say that $48,000 a year in the entire US isn't enough. In fact, 48k in a majority of the US is good pay. Sure, urban settings like New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and even some part of Arizona have extremely high costs of living, but there are exceptions to every rule and that's why averages exist.

48k is a good pay even for the large city I live in.

C'mon. The USA is a large place. You have to know by now that it's not all the same.

I make less than $75k a year, and I live plenty comfortably.. and I'm a single parent.

This. In a lot of places in you can buy a nice ~1500sq/ft house for like $70k, and have a tiny mortgage. Its not champagne and caviar but it's pretty solid. Well within the realm of decent living.

That being said public services and grossly undervalued in the USA.

[Paralectic]

They get paid using Taxpayer dollars. Of course they'll be paid little. It's like asking why a janitor gets paid so little.

And explain the other major cases where there is paid millions of tax money to people doing basically nothing. oh wait

[Kobathor]

How does that justify what they get paid compared to the people who are actually carrying out the orders?

 

Well.. It also takes years of school to get into the White House (unless you're a friend of Obama), compared to the high school diploma they usually want to sign up for the military. 

 

Also because there's so many more military personnel than Government officials in DC.

 

Did you ever take economics in high school?

[Oberon.Smite]

Are you nuts? 

 

Different geographical areas have different costs of living.  You simply can't make a generalized statement to say that $48,000 a year in the entire US isn't enough.  In fact, 48k in a majority of the US is good pay.  Sure, urban settings like New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and even some part of Arizona have extremely high costs of living, but there are exceptions to every rule and that's why averages exist. 

 

48k is a good pay even for the large city I live in.  

 

C'mon. The USA is a large place.  You have to know by now that it's not all the same. 

 

 

I make less than $75k a year, and I live plenty comfortably.. and I'm a single parent.  

That's because you live in Texas. In Texas you can buy a 3 bedroom house for like 100k. (AFAIK)

[Security]

Rent varies, I rent a room at my dad's as I was going to college down by his house to get my AA that cost me now down payment+350 a month.  Usually, rent is above 500[450 if you are lucky though usually in crap places] for an apartment with like a grand or more, I think for a security deposit.  I think the average is like 1500 bucks on the security deposit.  This is why most people rent a room out of a house/try to when in college.

 

My rent was €700+ while my income was around €2000 before taxes here in the Netherlands which isn't bad for someone my age (also I am supporting 2 people on that amount of money). Earning €3600+ a month would make me feel rich.

[Oberon.Smite]

I love how half of the people saying that 4k a month isn't little live in different countries with different economies. Apples and oranges. 

[Lays]

If you make 4000 a month, that means you make 48k a year. 48k isn't SHIT in the US. With 48k a year you'll probably be able to, by yourself, rent a decent apartment, but that's it. If you are living with a spouse that makes a similar amount of money, you'll probably be able to afford a 3 bedroom house if you have a steady job and clean record. Basically 4k a month isn't anything because once you subtract rent/mortgage, taxes, groceries, and utilities you are left with almost nothing. It might be hard to understand for you because you live in a different country, but that's just how shit works here. If you want to live comfortably you have to make AT LEAST 75k a year.

 

 

In what country is the equivalent of $4,000 USD a month a VAST amount of money?!

 

Are we talking about what you take home? Before or after taxes?

 

Why aim for a little above what you need? Never set something like that to be your goal. It's enough to live off of, but why stop there? Try to make enough to be able to buy what you want without having to save for months/years. There is a difference between livable and comfortable.

 

As for cost of living, it depends on where you live, it differs city-to-city state-to-state. Where I live the cost of living is about $20,000 annually. BEFORE TAXES. That's to survive. Not what you should do and then spend the rest on random stuff. NEVER AIM FOR THE MINIMUM.

 

http://livingwage.mit.edu/ is a neat site/tool.

 

A comfortable living, to me, would be about $80,000 yearly minimum.

 

$4,000 a month isn't poor, but it is lower-end.

 

In Oregon, myself, my mom & my stepdad make roughly $4000 a month combined, and we live quite comfortably between the 3 of us.  We always have a bit of leftover money to spend on our hobbies.

 

That's THREE people living off 4k a month, it is easily do-able if you don't go overboard on shit you can't afford.

[watts300]

That's because you live in Texas. In Texas you can buy a 3 bedroom house for like 100k. (AFAIK)

 

There you go making generalized statements again.

 

Texas is a HUGE place. There are plenty of cheap houses in certain parts of Texas... in other parts, no.  Hell no.  There isn't any part of my city that has houses for sale for $100,000.

 

 You should really educate yourself and do a little reading before you start jumping to conclusions and making assumptions.  

[Security]

Ya, but the problem with the US is the mindset many adapt from television and the internet, "Unless you make at least 1 million a year, you are nothing!"  It's honestly fucked up imo.  So, then people view anyone in the low class to middle class as nothing which then goes into political crap that I don't care for.  Our government honestly only cares about the upper class.

 

We are talking about actual facts of what people get paid and consider low, how people feel doesn't play a part here. I don't care if someone feels incompetent for not making a million, it's about if it's actually decent pay.

 

The idea I get from the naysayers is that they are not willing to let certain things go they want to do that cost money and thus claim that amount of money isn't enough for someone to live on. This feeling isn't based on facts tho so I admit it could be wrong but I doubt that really is the case.